Just Us
by simply sadie
Summary: Of course, it is only us. It'll always be that way.


Hello! This is my first Fanfiction story, and I hope you're all excited as I am. Keep in mind that one improves through others. That means I'd like everyone of you to point out mistakes, and harsh criticism is welcome (just make sure not to be _too_ harsh). I decided, after all that pondering, that my first story will be about Amy and Dan Cahill. They seem to be the most _perfect_ siblings. I've always wondered how close they were before the clue hunt. Obviously, not close enough, but still . . . Maybe there was a time they had to trust each other, right? Oh, well. There's my reasoning :P Enjoy the story!

I do not own The 39 Clues. Though I wish I did.

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><p><em>Of course, it<em> is_ only _us_. It'll always be that way._

That was what Amy had said.

Seven year old Dan Cahill looked around the quiet neighborhood. It's eerie silence was terrifying him. He clutched his 9 year old sister's hand, the hand that wasn't carrying the picnic basket. Amy looked down, and smiled.

"You don't trust me, do you?" She asked. Dan pouted, frowning and letting go of her. She must think he was afraid of the dark. Of course not! Ninja's weren't afraid of the dark. It would be shameful if he was. Dan tightened the red belt on his waist.

"Oh, Dan," Amy said, in a disapproving tone. "You brought your belt. You only do that when you're scared."

"I'm not scared, Amy," Dan answered. "Where are we going?"

"Oh . . . No where special."

"_Where?_"

"Just a bit further."

Dan shivered slightly as the summer breeze blew past. He took Amy's hand again, not worried what she thought of it. The long shadows of the trees loomed over them. _Aunt Beatrice doesn't know we're here_, Dan realized. He suddenly started feeling bad for their babysitter. She would be fired if anything happened to them. If Aunt Beatrice found out that they aren't in their beds.

Amy stopped walking, and Dan followed her example. Ahead, he saw a hammock between two large trees that was next to the duck pond. The hammock was swaying with the wind. Dan squinted. He knew this place. He remembered it. Dan had been here before, but in the morning time. Images and sounds flooded through his mind. Fading laughter. Amy taking his hands and swinging him. And two other people - they're faces weren't clear enough. But Dan could tell who they were. His parents.

_"Dan! Amy! Lunch is ready!" Their Mom called. _

_"Aw, Mom, we're feeding the ducks," Amy replied, as she handed a piece of bread to Dan. He threw it at the birds._

_"Did you take that from the basket?" Dad asked. _

_"Daddy! Daddy, look! It's - It's eating!" Dan blubbered. Dan felt strong hands grabbing him from behind, and suddenly, he was in the air. "Daddy!" Dan started laughing. _

_"It's_ your_ lunch time, not the birds," his Dad said, setting him down on the blanket. Amy ran to their Mom and ducked under her arm. _

Fading laughter. It echoed through Dan's head so loud, he could've sword it was real.

But it wasn't.

The street lap was the only light source there, not the sun. And the ducks weren't quacking.

"I hope you didn't forget this place," Amy was saying. She started walking ahead of him, taking out a checkered blanket from the basket. "This was where we always spend afternoons during the summer. With Mom and Dad."

Dan hadn't forgotten. "What are we doing here? In the night?"

Amy set down the blanket in front of the hammock. She put four blocks on the four corners of the blanket. Dan stood next to her.

"We're having a reunion," Amy told him.

"A . . . A what?" Dan asked. He thought about the word. _Reunion_. His parents had used it so often, when they were getting ready to visit their Grandma Grace's house.

"Reunion. It means we're gathering together again." Amy sighed. "Do I have to tell you what 'gathering' means?"

"No." Dan felt frustrated that Amy was treating him like a baby. "I know what it means."

"Good." Amy started taking out food. Dan grinned. She had brought all of his favorite things - Grilled cheese sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies, Hawaiian Punch, and mint ice cream.

_"Don't eat the ice cream so fast, Dan," his Mom scolded. "You'll get a brain freeze."_

_But his Dad and Amy were cheering him on. "C'mon, Danny! Five seconds left!" _

_Dan looked down at his now empty bowl, and smiled. He had finished the ice cream in two minutes. _

_"Good job!" Amy exclaimed. His Mom was shaking her head, but she was grinning. _

_"He'll set a world record when he grows up," his Dad said._

"Oh, Dan, don't finish the ice cream!" Amy exclaimed.

"Showwy," Dan apologized his mouth full of the frozen desert. Once he finished it, he helped Amy put everything back in the basket. He folded up the blanket and was about to walk off with the basket when -

"We're not leaving yet," Amy said.

"We're not? But we finished our food," Dan answered. That was when Amy grinned wickedly.

"The ducks haven't eaten."

Dan grinned, too.

Amy gave Dan a piece of sliced bread, and they both walked over to the ducks, and started ripping and throwing pieces of bread into the water.

"Remember how Mom used to hate when we did this?" Amy asked, and Dan nodded. "But she was the one who taught it to us!" Dan heard sirens wailing and the sound fading.

"Dad wanted you to learn how to climb a tree," Amy continued. "I remember, once, when he threw you up, and your t-shirt got caught in one of the branches. They had to call the firemen to bring you down safely. Do you remember, Dan?" Dan nodded, slowly. He was on his last piece of bread. He threw at a duck, and brushed the crumbs off his hands.

"What did Mom look like?" Dan asked Amy, as his put his hand in hers. They were once again walking back to their house.

"She had reddish brown hair," Amy answered.

"Like yours?"

"Sort of. Hers was a bit redder. You can always spot her from the stage in the auditorium with her camera. She was one of those Mom's that other Mom's were jealous of," Amy said, smiling.

"Amy?"

"Hm?"

"What did Dad look like?"

"He had salt and pepper hair, and he really tall and tanned. Dad had a nice smile." Amy's own smile wavered.

"That's nice. I wish I could see them again."

"So do I." Amy and Dan had reached their apartment already. "I have a picture of them in my room. You can have it, if you want."

Dan nodded. He paused. "Can we go back to the park tomorrow?"

"Maybe. But we have to make sure everyone's asleep, 'kay? It's our little secret. Only us."

Dan liked the sound of that.

_Of course, it_ is_ only _us_. It'll always be that way._

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><p>And that's it! I hope you guys liked it. It's my first and I'm pretty nervous. Can you blame me? :) I imagined this was how Amy and Dan would spend their nights sometimes, during the summer. That's how my brother and I do. In fact, Amy and Dan's sibling lovehate relationship is exactly like my brother and I.

Sigh. Siblings can be the best things in the world. Sometimes.


End file.
